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Monday, May 16, 2011

Author Guest Post: Barbara Quick

Barbara Quick, author of A Golden Web, is here to tell us a little about herself in 250 words or less.

J.M. Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan, claims that babies all remember once having been

fairies. They’ re still trying to fly, waving their little arms. But life teaches them soon

enough how silly they’ re being—and they stop trying to fly.

Writers are often, I think, babies who never learn that they can’ t fly anymore.

From a very young age, I knew I needed wings of some kind if I was going to survive the

journey to adulthood. I kept my wings hidden. But I flew nonetheless. I found safe and

beautiful places. And when I couldn’ t find them, I created them.

Of course I could say: Los Angeles; a dysfunctional family; a little sister I adored. Lots

and lots of reading. Very dark poems. (When I was eight, I wrote, “ Far into the night, I

see myself. I am alone.” )

Learning to bake bread and make gardens. Learning to follow very complicated recipes—and then learning to improvise. Wanting to be an actress on the stage. Singing. Dancing.Crying for the slightest reason. (“ The tulips are—so red!” )

The thrill of getting out—growing up. And then realizing that I hadn’ t left any of the pain behind. It took me years and years to learn to live with it. To make a little room for it,deep inside myself, where I almost never go anymore.

The hooray of it all is that the life I’ ve made for myself is one I wouldn’ t trade for any

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comments:

Thank you, Christie--and thanks so much to all 638 of your followers! I'm really excited about the opportunity to connect with readers who might never have found my books otherwise. I'd like to recommend my 2007 novel, VIVALDI'S VIRGINS, as a followup to A GOLDEN WEB (jumping ahead 400 years to the 18th century in beautiful, magical Venice). There's a book trailer at http://www.BarbaraQuick.com